With a flick of the finger, we scroll through the pages on the screen, type texts, change photos… Mobile phones, printers, cameras, computers — in any incarnation of new technologies there is a place for tactile contact. And it looks like it will only get worse in the future.
What a strange thing the computer mouse seemed to be when it first appeared and we were able to control the computer remotely! Today, the gesture and the action it causes are regaining logic and naturalness: a finger, touching the screen, moves images, enlarges or reduces them — just a pleasure!
Simplicity. 91% of Europeans value tactile technology primarily for its “ease of use”*. We instantly, thanks to the ability to touch, come into contact with what is depicted on the screen. The digital object (photo, text) becomes more real. The importance of such contact is emphasized by the sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann: “Our society is increasingly immersed in the virtual world, and touch helps to maintain connections with the concrete.”
Prestige. Gadgets that use touch are beautiful, aesthetic. So, a monitor without wires, keyboards and buttons becomes almost a piece of art, beautiful in its minimalism. According to the majority of survey participants, the ability to handle such an object raises the prestige of its owner. “Tactile technologies return to us the infantile illusion of omnipotence, control over the world, in which there are no boundaries between “I” and “not-I,” explains psychoanalyst Svetlana Fedorova. » There is no longer an intermediary between the keyboard, mouse and monitor screen. By changing the image with one movement of the finger, erasing it or correcting it, we are in control of the situation. The object obeys our desire — and this cannot but flatter self-esteem.
Sensuality. 87% of Europeans value touchscreens because they are «pleasant to use»: we like to touch something pleasant with our fingertips. Svetlana Fedorova explains: «Sensory technologies remind us of the primary tactile sensations associated with the mother’s body, with a sense of satiety, peace and pleasure.» However, there is a downside: our fingers smudge the screen, leaving traces … «Prints, spots create a border between illusion and reality,» explains the psychoanalyst. “They confirm the presence of a screen, some kind of separator, and the illusion created is in jeopardy.”
*Study conducted by HP Photosmart September 2009.